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We're not even into the 2011-'12 season yet but it's always good to have one eye on the future (if you can somehow look in two different directions with each eye).
While the Class of 2011 was completed long before this upcoming season, the Class of 2012 still has nary a member in it. Cause for concern? Hardly...have you met our Syracuse basketball coaching staff?
You know Ricky Ledo. Syracuse apparently liked Ledo's stuff and was on his short list after he pulled back from a verbal commitment to Providence. Well now it sounds like Ledo was indeed just testing the waters as he's likely going back to Providence. Many Syracuse fans wondered if a guy like Ledo would have fit in with the Orange, position-wise and attitude-wise, so perhaps it's not the worst thing in the world.
Then there's Jerami Grant, who hailed from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md, home of Ryan Bartholomew. Grant's list had included Syracuse, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Rutgers (Rutgers?). According to WaPo, that list has been trimmed to Maryland and Rutgers (RUTGERS?). But fear not, Grant's AAU coach refuted the report, saying Grant's options are still "wide open" and that he'll make a decision next week.
And then there's DaJaun Coleman. You may have heard of him. He plays high school ball at Jamesville-DeWitt, a Syracuse basketball player factory. He's buddies with Brandon Triche. His last name and size have a lot of people thinking he's related to another SU great (he's not). This one should be in the bag, right?
Not exactly. It's between Syracuse, Kentucky and Ohio State. He's cozied up to Buckeye star Jared Sullinger and he'll be visiting OSU soon. He's also got a visit to Kentucky schedule soon. No visit to SU in the works yet, though I'm guessing he's already seen the campus a few dozen times.
If you want me two-cents (of course you do), I don't think Coleman comes to Cuse. I get the sense he wants to be his own man, and by committing to the Orange, he's "just another local guy who stayed local." I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But we shall see.
Syracuse.com has some thoughts on who's next on the list if all of these guys take a pass:
If Grant has eliminated SU and Layman and Ledo are already off the board, who will Syracuse turn to next? Amile Jefferson, a highly-regarded forward out of Philadelphia, is the 13th-ranked player in the class. There is Jamesville-DeWitt's Tyler Cavanaugh, who is coming off a very good summer on the AAU circuit.
Like I said earlier, I wouldn't get too freaked out. Mike Hopkins is involved and nothing bad has ever happened when Mike Hopkins is involved.